A woman in California found a fossilized whale brain around nine years ago. She is hoping to sell it in order to raise money to create a Brucker Biofeedback Center in California. Her niece experienced a brain injury due to a car accident, and received help from that Center in Florida.
Nine years ago, a woman named Pepper O’Shaughnessy was exploring a creek near her home. She ended up finding a strange looking object that turned out to be a fossilized whale brain. This is an amazing find, for many reasons.
Only two whale brains have ever been found in the county of San Luis Obispo, California, where Ms. O’Shaughnessy lives. The other fossilized whale brain was found around 70 years ago, at a different location, but within the same California county. Both of these fossils are extremely rare. It was once believed that it was impossible for a whale brain to become fossilized, because it was made up of soft tissue.
The fossilized whale brain found by Ms. O’Shaughnessy is of a baleen whale, and it includes part of the back of the whale’s skull. The other fossilized whale brain was found in the mid-1940’s and is owned by the MacGilivray family. This fossil is from a toothed whale. It is a partial whale brain, but what is there is more detailed than the other fossil. Both are from the same geographic area, and the same time period. Much can be learned from these two specimens.
Pepper O’Shaughnessy has a niece named Tara Olson. In 1998, Tara was driving back from a B-52s concert at the California Mid-State Fair. She fell asleep at the wheel, while driving 65 miles an hour, and the SUV she was driving rolled. As a result, Tara Olson received a serious brain injury. Her doctors believed that she would be permanently paralyzed, and would require the use of a wheelchair, for the rest of her life.
Fortunately, Tara Olsen was able to have three weeks of therapy from the Brucker Biofeedback Center, which is located in Miami, Florida. It helps patients, of all ages, who have neurological disabilities. This includes spinal cord injuries, stroke, cerebral palsy, spinal bifida, encephalitis, myelitis, Bell’s palsy/Facial palsy, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and spinal stenosis. As a result, Tara Olsen now uses a cane, and has some difficulty speaking, but has made a remarkable recovery.
Tara Olsen’s family is hoping to sell their fossilized whale brain to a philanthropic person or organization, who will then donate it to a museum. The money that comes from this sale will be used to open a branch of the Brucker Biofeedback Center in San Luis Obispo County, California. They want more people who have neurological damage, and who live in California, to be able to get the help that they need. This could help adults and children who have brain injuries.
Image by Jen R on Flickr